Niece Lucy was a teacher's aide for two years in Bourgoin-Jallieu, about 40 miles from Lyon. Coco thought we should visit her while she was there, so we planned a trip to France during a week-long break Lucy had in April 2024. I flew out Saturday morning at 8:00 A.M. and arrived in Paris on Sunday morning, April 20, around the same time that Coco arrived. I had lovely view of a snow-covered mountain (Mount Hood?) from the plane.
When I got to Paris, I couldn't find Coco. She gave me some directions, which I tried to follow, but I couldn't find her. She said to go to the rental car place. I did, but still, I could not figure out where she was. She was totally exasperated with me and thought I was an idiot; finally, she realized that she was in a different terminal than I was. Vindication. We found each other by where the trains took off, just in time to catch one to Lyon, where Lucy met us. We picked up a car in Lyon (Coco was the designated driver) and drove on to Bourgoin, where Coco and I stayed in a cute Airbnb the first few nights. Rob and Anna had recommended the place. It was great, except around day 2 it started to reek like sewage. We didn't know why, but that made it less enjoyable.
On the way to Bourgoin, we stopped at the charming medieval villages Perouges and Cremieu. We were thrilled to be greeted by wisteria. Coco took a number of great pictures. Somehow I got almost none.
In Bourgoin, Lucy needed to finish packing up a little bit. Some of her stuff would go with her to Santa Fe for the spring/summer; some would stay in storage in Paris, where she'd start grad school in the fall. She took care of that while Coco and I walked around for a few minutes and got some pain au chocolat that was pretty disappointing, but the girl who was working in the bakery was nice and spoke English (huge relief!). One older man started speaking French to us, and I, very slowly and with long pauses, finally managed to say, "I'm sorry; we don't speak French" in French because Lucy had taught us. Coco and I got a good laugh out of how idiotic we were. After our brief walk, we went back to Lucy's place and got a tour of her accommodations. Then we had an amazingly delicious dinner at a burger place that night. One of the best things about France is that they don't tip! The price is the price! Why can't America do that?
Day 2 started at Annecy, which was flower-filled and old and glorious and accompanied by a beautiful lake.
Jim asked what is up with the angle of this picture. I don't know; I imagine it was a mistake, but I think it's fun.
Lucy took us to a little eatery for hot chocolate and baguettes with jam. I always thought I hated jam; I learned on this trip that it is delicious with butter on French baguettes.
I love how the French do flowers.
We went on to Chamonix. I couldn't get enough of the scenery (especially the mountains) from the car.
Chamonix is an adorable little ski village at the base of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. It was crazy to me that this gigantic, steep mountain just drops straight into this ski town. We didn't get clear skies, but it was still amazing. The only bummer is that we had to nix the Aiguille du Midi cable car ride that Lucy said provides the most amazing panoramic views; according to the live cam, all we would have seen was gray.
Lucy said there was a little train that went up the valley a bit. She wasn't really positive that we should do it, and Coco and I didn't really understand what it was. Finally, though, Coco said we should just do it. We were so glad we did. Turns out it took us up to Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France, and it was very cool - especially since Coco and I didn't even know what we were going to see. I guess Lucy had been there only a week or two before, and the gondola down to the glacier wasn't open; that's why she had been reluctant to encourage us to go up. The train ride itself was lovely, though.
The stern-looking fellow by Lucy tried to capture it, too.
It was cold and a little snowy at the top.
Looking down on the glacier we'd be going inside. We saw skiers who skied down from the top of Mont Blanc and then rode the gondola and train down.
It was nifty to see the rocks and other debris in the ice and think of how this thing was slowly moving down the mountain and changing the landscape.
There were lots of little info bits telling us about the movement of the glacier and what historical events had happened while it was traveling down the mountain.
Here I am.
Lucy took us to her favorite cute little fondue place there in Chamonix. I'd never had fondue before. It was very fun, but also the richness kind of made me feel sick. That's not a meal I could have all the time!
Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and the ski jump has continued to be used for 100 years (albeit only occasionally in recent times). Lucy took us by it for a quick peek.
I took lots more car photos on the way back to our Airbnb. I would not be sad about looking at those mountains every day.
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